Title 49 › Subtitle SUBTITLE VII— AVIATION PROGRAMS › Part B— AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT AND NOISE › Chapter 471— AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT › Subchapter I— AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT › § 47114
Each year the Secretary of Transportation must divide the new airport funding among airport sponsors. Primary airports get money based on how many passengers boarded there in the prior year. The payment rates are $15.60 for each of the first 50,000 boardings, $10.40 for the next 50,000, $5.20 for the next 400,000, $1.30 for the next 500,000, and $1.00 for each additional boarding. No primary airport gets less than $1,300,000 or more than $22,000,000. A brand‑new airport with scheduled passenger service gets $1,300,000 in its first full fiscal year. Commercial service airports that are not primary get $60 for each of the first 2,500 boardings and $153.33 for each of the next 7,499 boardings. For fiscal years 2025–2028 some airports that were primary in 2017 and used by an air reserve station for the relevant year count as primary. For fiscal year 2024 the Secretary must use whichever of calendar years 2018, 2019, or the prior full calendar year gives the highest payment when counting boardings. Four percent of the funds go to airports served only by cargo aircraft with more than 25,000,000 pounds of landed weight; that money is split by each airport’s share of that landed weight, measured in the prior calendar year, though the Secretary may set aside some for other cargo airports. If total AIP money is $3,200,000,000 or more, the Secretary must set aside 25 percent of the funds and split them differently. Small public airports (not commercial, but relievers included) get up to $150,000 or one‑fifth of their five‑year airport improvement cost estimate, whichever is less. The rest is divided so 0.62 percent goes to Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands, and the remaining funds are split roughly half by State population and half by State area for eligible airports. Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii may use their apportionments for any public airport in their jurisdiction. The Secretary may let some nonprimary airports use state highway pavement specs if the State asks and safety and pavement life are not harmed. Funds can be used for multi‑airport planning. Airports that had large carrier service and more than 10,000 boardings may get the minimum primary payment in some cases. Alaska has special rules that protect older apportionment levels and can see its amount doubled when total AIP reaches $3,200,000,000. Medium or large hub airports that charge passenger facility fees must have their annual apportionment reduced by either 40 percent or 60 percent of the projected fee revenue (depending on whether the fee is $3.00 or less, or more than $3.00), with special limits for Hawaiian interisland traffic; the cut only starts after fee collections begin and only if the airport has been a medium or large hub for three straight years. Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories follow these same rules, and the Secretary can still make discretionary grants to any territory.
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Legislative History
Reference
Citation
49 U.S.C. § 47114
Title 49 — Transportation
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60